Laere



No. 607,654. Patented July I9, I898.

6. DE KEUKELAERE.

MACHINE FOB DEPILATING SKINS.

(Application filed June 25, 1897;) (No Modal.)

4 Sheets-Shoot I.

IINVENTORJ 51 .7 T RN Y No. 607,654. Patented l'uly I9, 1898.

Q 6. DE KEUKELAERE. MACHINE FOB DEPILATING SKINS.

(Application filed Julie 25, 1897.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet z.

Q IN'VENTOB. WITNESSES. JWW %m 4. -w Z fiT Y No. 607,654. Patented Julyl9, I898.

a. ma KEUKELAERE.

MAGHINE FOR DEPILATING SKINS.

(Application filed June 25, 1897.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

WITNESSES. ENTO 1 JQJ' WQJ Ma WATTORNEY No. 607,654. Patented luiv I9.1398.

6. DE KEUKELAER'E'.

MACHINE FOB DEPILATING' SKINS.-

(Application filed June 25; T897.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

0 WITNESSES. INVENT $62M? t f: :5

item- ".Srrarns aren't met.

GUSTAVE DE KEUKELAERE, or ALOST, BELGIUM.

MACHINE FOR DEPILATING SKINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,654, dated July 19,1898.

Application filed June 25, 1897. Serial No. 642,337. (No model.)Patented in Luxemburg May 15, 1896. No. 2,853.

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Depilating Skins,(patented in Luxemburg May 15, 1896, No. 2,853,) of which the followingis a specification.

The machines used hitherto for stripping dyed or raw skins do not, as arule, allow of the continuous treatment of unshaved skins. It isnecessary to first prepare. the same by means of shaving or smoothingmachines; besides, the work obtained from such machines is not perfect.Most of them produce their effect by pulling out or cutting, and it willbe easily understood that with this method of'operation it is impossibleto remove allof the hard hair or bristles close to the skin. The resultthereof is that the skins treated in that manner are not as soft asdesired.

The present invention relates to a machine in which skins, whethershaved or not, can be continuously depilated in a very perfect manner,said depilation being effected by burning the bristles or stifi hairslevel with the skin.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 isa front elevation of the machine; Fig. 2, a rear elevation of one-halfof the machine, and Fig. 3 a plan view thereof. Fig. 4 is a frontelevation, on a large scale, of an important part of the machine. Fig. 4is a detailed view; and Figs. 5, 6, 7, S, and 9 show in details how themachine operates upon unprepared hides or skins. The machine comprises aframe J, upon which is mounted an endless apron A, preferably of someasbestos tissue, one side of which passes overalarge cylinder P, mountedupon adjustable bearings, and the other side over a small cylinder B,the two cylinders being connected by any suitable means for movin g thempositively together. Facing the cylinder or roller B alarge drum G isarranged, one-half of the circumference of which is provided withbrushes H and the other part with Bunsen gas-burners I). '(See Figs. 5and 9.) Thedrum G is mounted'upon an axle driven by means of an endlesschain Z, to which motion is imparted by the driving-shaft a of themachine.

'pulley 19.

Three cams K N Y are fixed upon one end of the shaft or of the drum G, Kand N being duplicated on the other end. The cam K (see Fig. 4) actsupon a lever 70, which it presses upward and downward alternately, so asto displace vertically a spirally-threaded rod I in a guide R, carriedby a bracket S, fixed to the frame of the machine. One of theextremities of the rod I is provided with a The cam N works upon a leverM and makes the same advance and draw back alternately. It acts alsoupon the rod I, displacing the same horizontally in a guidingslot of thelever 70. During this motion the slide R swings around its axle upon thebracket S. 011 the other hand, the pulley p, mou'nted'npon the rod I, isbrought in contact with the driving-pulley O, actuated by the motiveshaft a through the intermediary of the pulleys 0 and 0 and a crossedbelt. The cam Y, through the intermediary of a roller 3 acts upon a rodT, causing the same to advance, while the recoil thereof is operated bya spring 3, fixed to a projection of the frame J.

When the cam Y pulls the roller 3 and the rod T forward, the latter,which is held by a roller r in a slide R, that swings freely upon theaxle of the cylinder P, will cause an angular displacement. of saidslide R. The slide R has two right-angled projections r r,in theextremities of which a parallel shaft V has its bearings. This shaft isprovided with a screw W, which engages with a gear X on the shaft ofroller P. It also carries a small ratche wheel U, whichis prevented fromrotating in one direction by a pawl o, secured to the main frame. henthe slide R swings backward, the shaft V goes with it, and on account ofthe position of the screw with respect to the axis of wheel X the latteris slightly rotated. In this movement the pawl o slips over the teeth ofratchet-wheel U. When, on the contrary, the'roller 3 meets the radius ofthe cam Y, the rod T will be pulled backward by the spring 8. It therebycauses the displacement of the slide R and of the wheel U in the reversedirection. The wheel II when thus reversed is held by the pawlo'and istherefore compelled to rotate the distance of one tooth. Said motionbeing transmitted to the pinion X by the endless screw IV causes arotation of the cylinder P and a forward motion of the inder 13, overthe apron.

' (see Figs. 3 and 49,) and the pressure of these springs upon the apronis regulated by means of a lever E, mounted upon the extremity of thesquare rod D, upon which a tension-spring F acts. The position of thesesprings can be slightly modified by means of an elbowed lever E,pivoting around the axle a and encling in an operating-handle. Thisdevice is mounted upon one of the sides of the machine, as shown inFigs. 3 and 4 The machine thus constructed works as follows: The skinsto be depilated are fixed one after another on the apron A, their hairslying backward in the position shown in the drawing, Fig. 5. Let ussuppose the machine having been put in motion and one of the skinshaving arrived at the extremity of the apron A on the cylinder B. Atthat moment the cam Y releases the roller 1 (See Fig. 4.) The resultthereof is that the spring 5, which acts as has been described hereinabove,causes a determined forward motion of the apron A. The skin passesthen under the blades of the springs O, and a certain part of the hairswhich were formerly held backward by the pressure of said springsescape, as shown in Fig. 5, and are submitted to the action of the brushII of the drum G. At that moment the threaded rod I stands high in theslide R by the action of the cam K. The brush II,which operates in thedirection of the arrow, Fig. 5, brushes downward all the hairs that mayhave escaped from the pressure of the springs C. At the moment the brushII has almost finished its work and that the hairs are thus partly helddown by the springs O and partly driven in the opposite direction, asshown in Fig. 6, the cam K lets the lever down,which carries down thethreaded rod I, which replaces the action of the brush II and holds thehair in the indicated position. (See Fig. 6.) The cam N, which nowcommences to operate, pushes the lever M backward and the rod I underthe cylinder B. (See Fig. 7.) This motion makes the pulley 2) (see Figs.2 and come in contact with the driving-pulley O, which rotates the rod Irapidly. The rod I will then have a very peculiar action. The hairs itholds turned downward against the circumference of the cylinder B are oftwo very different kinds, part of them being rather short and silky andthe other longer and more resisting. These latter (the bristles) mustdisappear. The rod in turning does not have the least action upon thesoft hairs. It simply keeps the same pressed against the apron A. Thelonger and harder hairs, however, are carried along on account of theirstiffness, as shown in Fig.

8. They enter the threads of the rod and are thus pressed downobliquely, making them apparently shorter. At the same time they arethus obliquely held down by the thread of the rod Iand thus held betweensaid thread and the apron the roller y and the lever T are pulledforward by the cam Y. (See Fig. 4.) There will be a sudden recoil of theapron A, which recoil, if the machine is well regulated, will correspondto a determined fraction of the previous advance of said apron. Duringthat motion of recoil the fur hairs the length of which that is pressedbetween the rod I and the apron is greater than the space said apron hasgone backward will be kept down by the rod and held between the same andthe apron A. The hard hair or bristles, however, which on account oftheir having become shorter for a moment are less engaged between saidrod I and the apron, will be pulled back for a distance long enough tomake them leave the threads of the rod I and jump straight again bytheir own stiffness, as can be seen in Fig. 9, showing these hairs inheavy lines. Now during the time that those different mechanical motionshave taken place the cylinder G has continued its rotary motion, so thatthe straightened bristles, which stand now separated from the fur hair,will face the part of its circumference which is provided with the smallBunsen burners. They will burn said bristles without touching the furhairs,which are kept pressed down by the springs C and by the rod I.When the bristles have thus been burned over an entire row equal to thewidth of the skin, the roller y will again be released by the cam Y, thespring 5 will pull backward the lever T and the apron A will advance,and a certain quantity of the hairs which have been re leased from thepressure of the springs C will again be submitted to the action of thebrush II, and so on. hen one skin has been thus treated entirely, I letit proceed with the apron until it shows over the machine. It is thenreplaced by another raw skin without it being necessary to interrupt theoperation of the machine.

It is obvious that it is principally due to the use of the threaded rodI that unshaved skins can be treated, the main object of said threadsbeing to make disappear, for a moment, at least, the inequality of thelength of the hairs. It could be possible as well to use a smooth rod ifpreviously-shaved skins were to be operated upon. It is also evidentthat the rod I could be threaded differently, according to the nature ofthe skin and the length of the hair. The position of the springs O andtheir degree of pressure upon the cylinder B can also be regulatedaccording to the nature of the skins and the length of the hair.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1.. In a machine fordepilating skins, the combination of means for imparting a to-and- IIOfro movement to the skins, a spirally-threaded pressure rod or rolleradapted to rotate against the hair, means for rotating said rod wherebythe stiff long hairs are separated from the shorter soft ones, and meansfor removing the long hairs, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for depilating skins, the combination of means forimparting a forward-and-backward movement to the skin, the forwardmovement being greater than the backward, a spirally-threadedpressure-roller adapted to rotate in contact with the skin, means forrotating said rod and means for removing the long hairs for the purposeset forth.

3. In a machine for depilating skins, the combination of an endless beltupon which the skins are carried, a row of spring-fingers bearing uponthe hainof the skins, aspirallythreaded roller, means for rotating saidroller in contactwith the hair on the skin at a point adjacent to thefingers, and means for imparting a forward-and-backward movement to thebelt carrying the skin, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for depilating skins, the combination of an endless beltupon which the skins are carried, a row of spring-fingers bearing uponthe hair of the skins, a spirally-- threaded roller, means for rotatingsaid roller in contact with the hair on the skin ata point adjacent tothe fingers, means for imparting a forward-and-backward movement to thebelt carrying the skin and aseries of burners arranged between the rowof fingers and the roller and adapted to burn off the exposed hairs.

5. I11 a machine for depilating skins, the

combination of an endless belt upon which the skins are carried, a rowof spring-fingers bearing upon the hair of the skins, a spirallythreadedroller, means for rotating said roller in contact with the hair on theskin at a point

